China blasts Turkish boycott call

Wednesday, 15 July 2009 09:57

China on Wednesday blasted a Turkish call for a boycott of Chinese goods as "irresponsible," a day after it angrily denounced accusations from Turkey that it was guilty of genocide.

Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian on Wednesday hit out at Ergün’s comments, saying he was confident the boycott would not be implemented.

"Some people in some countries made some irresponsible comments on imports of Chinese products after the Xinjiang incident," Yao told reporters, when asked about the boycott call.

"But I don’t think this means the country will introduce this policy."

Yao said Turkish leaders "had very good communications" with China, adding he believed the tension "will subside soon.”

His comments came a day after Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang blasted weekend remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said the plight of China’s Uighurs amounted to "a kind of genocide."

"In 1949, the population of Uighurs [in Xinjiang] was 3.29 million. At present, the Uighur population there is nearly 10 million, or three times more than 60 years ago. What kind of ethnic genocide is this?" Qin said Tuesday.

Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern about recent unrest in Xinjiang, China’s northwest region that is home to 8 million Uighurs who have long said they suffer repression and discrimination under Chinese rule.

Turkey says it supports China’s sovereignty over Xinjiang but retains strong cultural links with the Muslim Uighurs because of a shared language, culture and history.

Several exiled Uighurs live in Turkey where they have been supported by nationalist groups.

Photo: AA